Why Courage Matters: on Homeland Security


We don’t have as much to fear as we had in the past

Crime rates rise and fall and rise again, and claim victims and leave tragedies behind, but lawlessness is still much less prevalent today than it was a century ago. We are the world’s only superpower, with armed forces so powerful that they deter all but the most irrational of adversaries from significantly challenging our security. We don’t have as much to fear as we had in the past. Courage may be in scarce supply, but the demand appears down as well. And we have come to grade courage on the curve.
Source: Why Courage Matters, p. 21 Apr 1, 2004

Those who gave their lives deserve to be remembered

Those who gave their lives in service to their country deserve to be remembered. Should, as we hope & intend, another people in a country far from ours gain & keep their own right to self-determination, that would be an accomplishment worth remembering. But will it? The thrill of it will fade away. We constantly seek new ones and the shelf life of their effect contracts correspondingly. Will we attempt to inspire our own courage some distant day by recalling the heroics of our compatriots in Iraq?
Source: Why Courage Matters, p. 24 Apr 1, 2004

  • The above quotations are from Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life, by John McCain with Mark Salter.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Homeland Security.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by John McCain on Homeland Security.
Candidates and political leaders on Homeland Security:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 26, 2019